In New York City, A Somber Remembrance Of Sept. 11

Those are the sounds of Ground Zero in New York where a memorial service is underway this morning, marking the anniversary - the 11th anniversary - of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Moments of silence and commemorations have been held in New York, at the Pentagon and at a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania to honor the nearly 3,000 victims of the attack.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

These ceremonies have a different look and feel this year, than in past years. Instead of thousands of family members gathering at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City, hundreds of family members are there. Politicians did not speak today, it was a quieter ceremony. And Jane Policino(ph), who lost her husband on 9/11, said I feel much more relaxed this year. Charles G. Wolfe(ph) who also lost a loved one, said we've gone past that deep and collective public grief. It still was a day, though, to read aloud the names of the dead.

MONTAGNE: That's the sound of names being read in New York. At about the same time, at the White House, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama observed a moment of silence and laid a wreath at a memorial service at the Pentagon.

(SOUNDBITE OF "TAPS")

MONTAGNE: "Taps" at the Pentagon, reminding us that the terror attacks were followed by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. This afternoon the president will also visit the wounded at the Walter Reed National Medical Center. The president and his Republican opponent, Mitt Romney, are taking a break, of sorts, from politics, curtailing their TV political ads.

INSKEEP: This 11th anniversary of the attacks comes with some positive news. Construction at the stalled 9/11 Museum Project at Ground Zero is set to resume after disputes over financing. The underground museum is expected to display portraits of victims, and also artifacts, like a staircase through which survivors fled the buildings in 2001. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.